T
THE ITALIAN-AMEI
LA
(Formerly LA GAZZETTA del MASSACHUSETTS)
VOL. 116 - NO. 27 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, JULY 6, 2012 $.30 A COPY
4 th of July Family Fun Day 002elebration at Christopher Columbus Park
by Matt Conti
Friends of Christopher Columbus Park Kick Off the 4 th of July with the U.S. Coast Guard, NEMPAC and local families.
(Continued on Page8) .
by Sal Giarratani
North End Wins First International
Little League Game Against Verona, Italy
by Matt Conti
"The Nation" After Failed Recall
I just read my latest copy of "The Nation" and
while they do acknowledge that public schools in
Philadelphia are in big doo-doo, they are more
concerned with unfair classroom tests that lead
to teachers getting axed. They also don&apos;t like
charter schools -- boy, is that a shocker. The
state now has a plan liberals call "radical," which
would close 64 public schools, maybe privatizing
the rest and weaken public unions. The proposal
developed by the Boston Consulting Group comes
at a time when bailouts are no more. Gov. Tom
Corbett and the GOP legislators have been cut-
ting spending deeply. The school system is al-
ready controlled by the state and is facing a $218
million deficit for the upcoming year and a five-
year shortfall of a whopping $1.1 billion. Under
the proposed plan, charter schools would teach
40 percent of all the city's public school pupils
and by 2017 might control the other 60 percent.
Of course all the usual suspects are against the
plan, what else is new, huh?
(Continued on Page 15)
The international appeal
of Little League Baseball
brought together the North
End Athletic Association and
The Italian Dream Team
from Verona, Italy in a first
of its kind youth baseball
game on the evening of
Thursday, June 28, 2012. It
was a close, but high scor-
{Photo by Rosario Scabin, Ross Photography)
ing, game with a final score
of 13-12, as the North End
Athletic Association came
from behind with two runs in
the 6 th inning to take the
win in the friendly competi-
tion. Organizers are already
talking about a rematch in
September!
In addition to the well-at-
tended little league game,
the North End hosts gave the
Italian team a tour of the
neighborhood, including all
the important sites like
Mike's Pastry! The Italians
were quite surprised (and
proud) to see the Americans'
(Continued on Page 14)